Rebirth: Sequel to Extinguished
by sweaterkitty
Summary: After four moons of peace, the time of darkness is coming again, but this time, the enemy is unknown, and according to StarClan, beyond the stars. In fear, the Clans begin to isolate themselves. Kin turns against kin. Even the stars are powerless to what's beyond the horizon. Can the chosen cats hold the peace together? Or will all of their work come falling apart?
1. Chapter 1

**This story takes place exactly four moons AFTER the battle at FourTrees. We have four POVs this time, one from each Clan, all fairly young.**

"Are we all ready?"

Six cats stood at the entrance to Mothermouth, two of them being apprentices, the others none other than the Clans' medicine cats. It was the half-moon, the night they all were to speak to StarClan. There was a strange tension in the air that had not been there the two previous meetings. All the cats nodded, and as a group, they traveled into the long, dark tunnel that led them to the Moonstone.

"Are you scared?" One of them, a pale calico she-cat, asked the other.

"Are you kidding? I'm not scared of anything!" A small golden she-cat answered, puffing out her chest in the dark.

"Then you must have forgotten about that spider you found in our den, Goldpaw," an elderly black she-cat called from up ahead, her voice full of amusement.

"It was about to attack!" Goldpaw protested. "Streampaw, stop laughing!" The pale calico apprentice chuckled merrily despite Goldpaw's protest.

"Yellowfang, do you need to embarrass her?" A small tabby asked the elderly she-cat sternly, although Yellowfang just snorted.

"It's my job," Yellowfang chuckled, "once you get an apprentice, Littlecloud, you'll understand."

"Oh, it's lots of fun," chimed in Mudfur, the RiverClan medicine cat - Streampaw's mentor.

Much to Owlwhisker's relief, the tension seemed to have subsided.

"How's WindClan?" Yellowfang turned the subject to Owlwhisker.

"We're fine," he mewed. "We have rather... interesting news, you'll love to hear it at the Gathering."

"Can't you tell us now?" Mudfur asked curiously.

"Shh, we're here," Owlwhisker flicked his tail, grinning, and with a sigh Mudfur stopped talking, as did the rest of the medicine cats, who had chattered quietly on the way to the Moonstone. The moon's light was just beginning to touch the stone, which immediately began to glitter and shine ominously. Owlwhisker found his breath escaping him in his awe, as it did every time.

Slowly, he copied the rest of the medicine cats and lay down in a circle around the Moonstone, touching his nose to it and instantly was sent into darkness.

_* * *_

"Owlwhisker." 

_Owlwhisker opened his eyes and saw a light brown tabby tom with green eyes standing in front of him. _

_"Onewhisker," he greeted with a smile, enjoying the similarity of their names. Owlwhisker flicked his tail, waiting for whatever good omens or news his StarClan mentor had to give him. To his surprise, Onewhisker's eyes were dull. "What's wrong?" he asked the StarClan cat._

_"Nothing, yet," Onewhisker answered in a quiet voice. "But I'm afraid, another time of darkness will begin again."_

_"What? But the Clans are at peace! We haven't fought with another at all!" Owlwhisker protested. Onewhisker shook his head._

_"Peace is fragile," the light brown tom mewed softly. "There are cats who do not let go of the past. There are few, but they will grow into many."_

_"Who?" Owlwhisker demanded. "They must be sought out!"_

_"They are innocent, as of now." Onewhisker chided him. "If you knew who and took actions against them, they would turn bitter faster. You have a chance at destroying the peace earlier. It is better you don't know."_

_"How do I prevent it?" Owlwhisker asked. "What can I do?"_

_"Nothing, I'm afraid," the StarClan cat replied. "Like Tigerstar's reign, this time cannot be prevented... but it shall end." Onewhisker closed his eyes. "Beware your own cats. They know more than they tell. To seek the truth, you will have to look beyond the Clans."_

_"Beyond the Clans?" He bristled. "That's crazy!"_

_"No." Onewhisker smiled. "The stars are beyond the Clans - is that crazy?"_

_"I have to look to the stars?" Owlwhisker asked hopefully._

_"I cannot say," Onewhisker chuckled. "I'm sorry, Owlwhisker. May StarClan... er, may I guide your path. Darkness is coming. It cannot be stopped by you alone."_

_"Then how-" Owlwhisker demanded, but was cut off by a shaking. The ground shook. Blood oozed from Owlwhisker's toes, as if something had cut each one. Blood oozed from the grass, even. The ground continued to shake._

_"Farewell, Owlwhisker." Onewhisker meowed. _

"Owlwhisker! Time to go." Mudfur was shaking him with one of his paws. His former mentor's voice trembled slightly.

Owlwhisker muttered a thank you under his breath and stood up. After glancing around, he saw some of the other cats looked shaken up too - Yellowfang, Mudfur, and Littlecloud. The two apprentices seemed clueless.

"Mudfur, did you-" He began to ask, but his former mentor gave him a look that silenced him immediately.

"We do not share our dreams with StarClan." Mudfur meowed gently. "Come on. Let's go back to our Clans."

Shaken up, Owlwhisker followed him.

* * *

**ALLEGIANCES:**

**THUNDERCLAN:**

**LEADER:** Bramblestar - massive dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes  
apprentice, Floodpaw

**DEPUTY:** Mousefur - dusky brown she-cat  
apprentice, Berrypaw

**MEDICINE CAT:** Yellowfang - elderly smoky black she-cat with amber eyes  
apprentice, Goldpaw

**WARRIORS:**

Goldenflower - pretty golden tabby she-cat

Sandstorm - pale ginger she-cat with green eyes  
apprentice, Pebblepaw

Dustpelt - dark brown tabby tom  
apprentice, Thistlepaw

Ravenwing - small black tom with green eyes

Shrewfur - light brown tom with amber eyes

Cloudtail - longhaired white tom

**APPRENTICES: (ranked by age)**

Floodpaw - gray-brown tom with light blue eyes

Goldpaw - small golden she-cat with white paws

Berrypaw - small cream colored she-cat with green eyes

Pebblepaw - dark brown and white tabby tom with amber eyes

Thistlepaw - mottled dark brown and white tabby tom with green eyes

**QUEENS: **

Ferncloud - gray she-cat with darker flecks, green eyes (nursing Patchkit, a mottled gray and brown she-cat, and Nettlekit, a brown and white tom)

Brightheart - white she-cat with ginger patches and green eyes (nursing Whitekit, a small white she-cat, Larkkit, a dark ginger she-cat, Birdkit, white she-cat)

* * *

**SHADOWCLAN**

**LEADER:** Blackstar - white tom with jet-black paws

**DEPUTY:** Russetfur - dark ginger she-cat

**MEDICINE CAT:** Littlecloud - unusually small brown tabby tom

**WARRIORS:**

Wetfoot - dark gray tabby tom

Oakfur - small brown tom  
apprentice, Duskpaw

Rowanclaw - dark ginger tom

Spiderleg - black tom with a brown underbelly  
apprentice, Sunpaw

Dawncloud - brown tabby she-cat with blue eyes

**APPRENTICES:**

Duskpaw - black and brown tabby tom with amber eyes

Sunpaw - cream she-cat with green eyes

**QUEENS:**

Russetfur - dark ginger she-cat (nursing Leafkit, a dark ginger tom with a lighter underbelly, and Icekit, a white tom with one black paw)

Tawnycloud - tortoiseshell and white she-cat (nursing Flamekit, a flame-colored tom, Pinekit, a black and white tom, and Frogkit, a mottled brown and black tom)

* * *

**WINDCLAN**

**LEADER:** Mudstar - mottled brown tom with green eyes  
apprentice, Swiftpaw

**DEPUTY:** Raintalon - light gray tom with light blue eyes

**MEDICINE CAT:** Owlwhisker - light brown tabby tom with white paws

**WARRIORS:**

Deadfoot - black tom with a twisted paw; returned from Twolegplace  
apprentice, Flashpaw

Tornear - silver tabby tom; returned from Twolegplace  
apprentice, Dovepaw

Nightcloud - black she-cat with amber eyes; returned from Twolegplace  
apprentice, Spottedpaw

Sootfang - dark gray tom with dark blue eyes

Whiteflower - small white she-cat  
apprentice, Snakepaw

Crowfeather - dark gray, almost black tom with blue eyes

**APPRENTICES: (ranked by age)**

Swiftpaw - black and white she-cat with green eyes

Snakepaw - dark gray tabby tom with green eyes

Spottedpaw - mottled black and white tom with amber eyes

Dovepaw - silver tabby she-cat with one blue, and one green eye

Flashpaw - white she-cat with black ear tips and blue eyes

* * *

**RIVERCLAN**

**LEADER:** Graystar - gray tom with a single stripe down his spine, yellow eyes  
apprentice, Blazepaw

**DEPUTY:** Frostfur - white she-cat with dark blue eyes

**MEDICINE CAT:** Mudfur - dark brown tom  
apprentice, Streampaw

**WARRIORS: **

Leopardfur - dappled golden she-cat with amber eyes

Brindleface - brown tabby she-cat  
apprentice, Runningpaw

Longtail - pale tabby tom  
apprentice, Barkpaw

Thornclaw - golden brown tabby tom  
apprentice, Dewpaw

Stormfur - dark gray tom with amber eyes  
apprentice, Lightningpaw

Feathertail - silver tabby she-cat with blue eyes  
apprentice, Cloverpaw

Petalnose - pale gray and white she-cat  
apprentice, Shadepaw

**APPRENTICES:** (ranked by age)

Barkpaw - dark brown tabby tom

Dewpaw - pale brown she-cat with dark ear tips

Lightningpaw - black tom with amber eyes

Cloverpaw - light gray tabby she-cat with green eyes

Shadepaw - black tabby she-cat with one green eye and one amber eye

Runningpaw - gray-brown tabby she-cat with green eyes

Streampaw - cream, silver and white she-cat

Blazepaw - flame-colored she-cat with amber eyes

**QUEENS:**

Silverspark - silver tabby she-cat with golden eyes (nursing Mosskit, a silver and white she-cat with blue eyes, Minnowkit, a silver tabby she-cat with blue eyes, Bluekit, a blue-gray she-cat with black streaks)

* * *

**CATS OUTSIDE THE CLANS:**

Frizzle - brown and white tabby tom with green eyes

Robin - small dark ginger she-cat

(too many to list)


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's our first POV, who takes after his namesake.**

**THISTLEPAW: **

Thistlepaw stared up at his father, who had just called the Gathering to a start.

"You may speak first, Mudstar." Bramblestar meowed with a twitch of his ears to the mottled brown leader, who seemed surprisingly eager for being a naturally short-tempered cat.

"Gladly," the WindClan tom mewed proudly. "Everyone." Mudstar addressed the Clans, his green eyes gleaming brightly in the moon's light. "Deadfoot, Tornear, and Nightpaw, who is now Nightcloud, have returned to WindClan. Tornear's kits - Swiftpaw, Spottedpaw, and Snakepaw - have joined with him, and are undergoing training from our warriors."

There were a few cheers and whoops from the WindClan cats, as well as some of ThunderClan and RiverClan, but ShadowClan naturally only gave a few mutters.

"More warriors for WindClan, yay," one of them, a dark ginger tom named Rowanclaw, muttered sarcastically.

"They were probably kittypets for moons." Another snickered. Webfoot.

"I bet you they were waiting out the big battle." A she-cat named Dawncloud sneered.

"Shut up, would you?" Thistlepaw snarled finally as another ShadowClan cat began to join in on the mocking. The four cats stared at him in a mix of surprise and anger. "I'm trying to hear Bramblestar speak."

"Hey, kit," Webfoot growled threateningly. "Watch your tone. We used to eat mice as big as you." The ShadowClan cats snickered.

"I'm not afraid of you, frog breath." Thistlepaw retorted.

He felt his brother, Pebblepaw, shift to stand beside him. The ShadowClan warriors narrowed their eyes at Pebblepaw, who remained silent, as usual, and Thistlepaw felt a prickle of annoyance. Pebblepaw was easily the largest apprentice in the Clan, he was massive, with brown and white fur and intimidating amber eyes, and visible muscle along his body, while Thistlepaw was more lean than muscular, and looked like a kit compared to his brother.

"You need your big brother to defend you, huh?" Oakfur, the cat who had joined in, sneered.

"I don't need defending!" Thistlepaw spat, rounding on Pebblepaw furiously. Instead of speaking, as expected, Pebblepaw's amber eyes met his, and he just shook his head, with a gaze Thistlepaw knew was telling him, _'They're not worth it.' _

"That's not what it looks like." Webfoot muttered. Pebblepaw stiffened, but was silent.

"Shut up!" Thistlepaw hissed. "I'm not afraid of a bunch of-"

"Are you done?" Mousefur, the ThunderClan deputy, cut in. Several cats were looking their way. "Hey. Tigerstar's lackeys," she growled at the ShadowClan cats. "Back off."

"Typical that it would be_ those_ four who interrupted the Gathering." Dustpelt's voice sounded from behind Thistlepaw. He shot a triumphant glare at the ShadowClan cats, who bristled defensively. But to their credit, they stopped talking. Thistlepaw looked up, and saw Graystar had begun to speak.

"...and Silverspark has given birth to my kits this moon," the leader's eyes shone, "their names are Mosskit, Bluekit, and Minnowkit, and they're all as healthy as can be."

"Congratulations," Bramblestar murmured. Thistlepaw pricked his ears, scowling up at his father - was he crazy, acting so friendly to the RiverClan leader? Who cares if they used to be Clanmates! That time was over. They were enemies now.

"ShadowClan, as usual, is strong, and although we haven't accepted any rogues into our ranks this moon," Blackstar paused with a skeptical glance at Mudstar, who noticeably bristled, "Dawncloud's kits Sunpaw and Duskpaw are now apprentices and are easily on their way to becoming fine warriors." He bowed his head.

"Duskpaw! Sunpaw!" The Clans cheered loudly. Thistlepaw flattened his ears in disgust.

_We're enemies! We should be angry, for StarClan's sake, that they have strong apprentices!_ He thought. As Bramblestar dismissed the Clans to share tongues, Thistlepaw was approached by three cats; Runningpaw, Streampaw, and Blazepaw. His cousins, Bramblestar had said.

"Hi Thistlepaw!" Streampaw chirped.

"Hi." He muttered.

"What's wrong?" Runningpaw asked, scowling.

"These stupid ShadowClan warriors were mocking WindClan." Thistlepaw shrugged. "They shut up now, though."

"Oh." Runningpaw seemed uninterested. "How's training going?"

"Good." Thistlepaw gritted his teeth. _I'm just as bored as you are, mousebrain!_ "Yours?" he asked, knowing her answer.

"Good," she said proudly. "Brindleface is teaching me a lot."

"Like how to fish?" Thistlepaw rolled his eyes.

"And other stuff!" Blazepaw cut in. "RiverClan isn't _just_ about fishing!" she sniffed.

"That sums it up," Thistlepaw shrugged.

"Oh, hey Pebblepaw," Streampaw mewed in that squeaky, kitten-like voice of hers that made Thistlepaw want to cringe. He sensed his brother was nearby, but didn't greet him. "Berrypaw!" Streampaw purred as his sister ran up.

"Hey!" Berrypaw purred back. Thistlepaw groaned internally.

_I hate talking to them,_ he thought._ I see Berrypaw every day, and Pebblepaw never talks, why do I have to talk to them at the Gathering, too?_ He narrowed his eyes and rose to his paws. _I hate having to talk to family just because our parents were sisters. We only share blood, that doesn't mean we have to be best friends, too!_

"I'm going to find the ShadowClan apprentices." Thistlepaw growled, storming off as Berrypaw begun to chatter with Streampaw. He wished his ears could just close. That would be nice. He approached a cream she-cat and lashed his tail once as he recognized the scent of pines and woodland on the apprentice. "Sunpaw, right?"

"Right." Sunpaw turned to face him with a cheerful smile. "Thistlepaw, right?" she teased playfully. "You're Bramblestar's son."

"The one and only." Thistlepaw snorted. "What do they teach you in ShadowClan that's so different from everywhere else?" He asked impatiently.

"Oh, nothing, I suppose." Sunpaw blinked. "How to hunt and fight in the dark, mainly."

"So, you have to sneak up to win a fight?" Thistlepaw asked in a slightly taunting voice, but Sunpaw just laughed.

"Yeah, I guess so." The apprentice purred.

"Sunpaw?" Duskpaw, Thistlepaw guessed, growled his sibling's name. "Who is this?"

"Thistlepaw, you furball!" Sunpaw rolled her eyes. "This is my brother, Duskpaw." She added in a lower voice, "He's not nearly as tough as he says he is!"

"Am so!" Duskpaw growled. "Why are you talking to a ThunderClan apprentice?"

"Because it's a Gathering, and you're allowed to." Thistlepaw grumbled. "What's your problem with ThunderClan?"

"Nothing, I guess." The black and brown tom muttered.

"Who's your mentor?" Sunpaw cut in.

"Dustpelt." Thistlepaw sighed. "He's a real pain in the tail, I'll tell you that. But he's strong, and I want to be as strong as my father one day, so it's not so bad." He flexed his claws.

"Mine's Spiderleg," Sunpaw mewed. "Oakfur is Duskpaw's." _I can see the resemblance,_ Thistlepaw thought to himself. "Spiderleg's nice, but pretty grumpy." The cream she-cat mewed.

"ThunderClan!" Bramblestar yowled. "We're leaving!" Thistlepaw turned and saw Bramblestar making his way towards ThunderClan's territory, most of the ThunderClan cats already following.

"Bye, Thistlepaw!" Sunpaw chirped.

"Yeah, bye." Duskpaw grumbled.

"Bye." Thistlepaw rolled his eyes, and hurried after his father. He fell into step with Berrypaw.

"Why didn't you want to talk to them?" She asked worriedly, her eyes full of hurt.

"Because we do that _every_ Gathering! I want to meet more cats than my kin." Thistlepaw glanced away. She didn't understand how restricted he felt, like he had no choice to be friends with them or even talk to them. He admired the other Clans more than he did RiverClan and ThunderClan - he felt that they were the weak links, and if the other two Clans had a choice of who to knock off the Clan list, it would be one of them. Thistlepaw wanted to be strong, to be respected, like Blackstar, or Bramblestar. Not weak, and friends with RiverClan.

"We've only been to three," Berrypaw pointed out with a roll of her eyes. "They're not mean or anything, not like the ShadowClan cats." Berrypaw shuddered.

"Not all of them are bad," Thistlepaw retorted, thinking of Sunpaw. "I'd rather talk to ShadowClan than RiverClan." He snorted. "RiverClan stinks of fish."

"Hey!" Berrypaw nudged him. "They do not!"

"Whatever," he rolled his eyes, annoyance subsiding only slightly.

They soon reached camp, and Thistlepaw gratefully sank into his nest without saying so much as a good night to his denmates. They didn't say anyhting either. It was a funny agreement between them. Thistlepaw obviously preferred the warriors over the apprentices, and they preferred each other over him. His only friend was Floodpaw, who was older by a moon, but definitely more to Thistlepaw's liking than Goldpaw or his littermates.

After what felt like moons, Thistlepaw drifted off.


	3. Chapter 3

** Blue Moonshine123 : That's because there are different leaders, and that things were different in the previous story, so not all of them received the same names, because example Silverpaw chose to be named after her sister, Sparkblaze, rather than the name Graystripe would have given her, Whitetail became Whiteflower instead because Tigerstar didn't acknowledge a she-cat's good traits rather than beauty and ambition. Another example, Raintalon and Sootfang were named for their fighting abilities, rather than being named Rainwhisker and Sootfur. **

**ICEKIT:**

Icekit sighed quietly to himself, licking his single black forepaw as he lay in the entrance to the nursery.

Sunpaw, his best friend, had promised she would tell him all about her first Gathering, and he had promised both Sunpaw and himself he would stay up until she returned. Russetfur, his mother, was sleeping in their nest, as well as Leafkit, who was friends with Duskpaw rather than Sunpaw. Their other friends were Pinekit, Flamekit, and Frogkit; Tawnypelt's kits, but all were asleep. Icekit was only three and a half moons old, yet still a moon and a half older than Tawnypelt's kits. Russetfur was the Clan's deputy, and he knew from Leafkit that she would leave the nursery soon to return to her duties.

Finally, after his eyelids had begun to droop, he saw his father's black and white fur emerge from the entrance.

"You're home!" Icekit yowled, scampering up to his father, who smiled down at him and licked the fur between his ears.

"What are you doing up?" Rowanclaw, a dark ginger tom who had been the temporary deputy while Russetfur had nursed Icekit and Leafkit, gave him a suspicious glare. "It's past moon-high."

"I wanted to hear about the Gathering." Icekit shied away from Rowanclaw's annoyed glance. But thankfully, Blackstar stepped in.

"I'll scold my son, not you," the leader mewed defensively. As Rowanclaw snorted and walked away, Blackstar gave Icekit a stern look. "You know it's hours past your bedtime, Icekit."

"I promised him that I would tell him about the Gathering," Sunpaw piped up from behind Blackstar, sounding worried, "I'm sorry, Blackstar."

Blackstar gave them a glance, but finally sighed, his anger forgotten.

"Sunpaw, you can tell Icekit in the morning. You're both tired, and it can wait until morning. I'll let Spiderleg know not to make you patrol until after Sunhigh." Blackstar decided, padding off to his den.

"Sorry, Icekit." Sunpaw mewed apologetically, returning to the apprentice's den.

With a sigh, Icekit returned to the nursery and curled into a tight ball at Russetfur's belly. Within seconds, he was asleep.

* * *

"Sunpaw!" Icekit mewed, poking his head into the apprentices den. The cream apprentice was curled up in her nest, with Duskpaw sleeping soundly in a nest beside hers. "Sunpaw, wake up! Sunpaw!" He shook his friend with a paw.

"Huh? Oh, Icekit!" Sunpaw blinked the sleep from her eyes and smiled at him. "What's wrong?" she asked, confused, her voice thick with slepe.

"You need to tell me about the Gathering, remember?" Icekit mewed.

"Sunpaw," Duskpaw groaned from his nest, "just tell him so he'll _stop."_ Duskpaw grumpily rolled over so he wasn't facing them.

"Come on, Icekit," Sunpaw led him out into camp. It was nearly sun-high, and as usual, Rowanclaw was organizing patrols. The ginger tom ordered Dawncloud, Spiderleg, and Wetfoot to patrol at sun-high, and declared that he, Oakfur, and Duskpaw would go on the sunset patrol. Icekit winced to himself, he had heard Blackstar complain about having too little warriors after the final battle. "Okay, what do you want to know?" Sunpaw asked him, jolting him back to attention.

"Just tell me everything," Icekit mewed excitedly, pricking his ears. _I can't wait until my first Gathering!_

"Well, it was scary! But nice, I met some cats from WindClan, and a ThunderClan apprentice." Sunpaw started, explaining next how Mudstar informed the Clans that cats had joined from Twolegplace, and moving on to say how Bramblestar congratulated Cloudtail on becoming a father, and then how a she-cat in RiverClan was having Graystar's kits and how Blackstar had announced her and Duskpaw's names. "That's about it, if there was anything else, I must have been too tired to remember." The cream apprentice laughed.

"I wish I could have been there," Icekit sighed. Sunpaw nudged him playfully.

"Hey, two and a half more moons until you will be!" She laughed, giving him a smile. Icekit grinned up at her, hiding his disappointment - that was so long!

"Sunpaw!" Spiderleg called from beside the camp's entrance. "Come on! I want you to patrol with me." The brown-bellied tom meowed impatiently.

"Coming!" Sunpaw called. "Bye, Icekit!" The cream she-cat hurried over to her mentor, and they left with the sun-high patrol. Icekit watched her go, feeling crestfallen.

"One day that'll be us," Leafkit's voice sounded in his ears, and Icekit glanced to his side, seeing his brother's ginger pelt. "My warrior name is going to be Leafclaw or something tough." Leafkit declared, puffing out his chest.

"Icestorm sounds cool," Icekit admitted with a sheepish smile.

"Leafstorm and Icestorm!" Leafkit meowed, his green eyes gleaming. "We'll be unstoppable!"


End file.
